Today, the United Nations General Assembly voted to condemn Donald Trump's declared intention to move the US Embassy to Israel from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem, by 128 votes to 9 (and 35 abstentions). I am pleased to say that the United Kingdom, the former mandatory power over the whole of historic Palestine, voted in favour [...]
Rob Marchant believes Labour's only hope is that the trade unions will turn on Jeremy Corbyn over the threat that Brexit poses to workers' rights: "Even Corbyn's great ally on the hard left, Len McCluskey of Unite, is being weakened by the legal challenge to his election as General Secretary, this week announced as being a little more serious than many had expected, now his case will be heard by a former High Court judge." "The British are catching up with an American awareness of the intertwined political influence of the secretive super-rich, social media, and the Kremlin," argues Anthony ...
BBC News wins our Headline of the Day Award, but that's not important right now. Nick Cohen once warned us against politicians who started out as journalists and against two of them in particular: Johnson and Gove are the worst journalist politicians you can imagine: pundits who have prospered by treating public life as a game. Here is how they play it. They grab media attention by blaring out a big, dramatic thought. An institution is failing? Close it. A public figure blunders? Sack him. They move from journalism to politics, but carry on as before. When presented with a ...
3,500 people have been murdered for their human rights work and activism over the last 20 years. Here are the six most dangerous kinds of activism.
"How to Stop Brexit' - a short animation, narrated by Nick Clegg, explaining why you should reject the government's Brexit deal and how YOU can stop Brexit.
No council by-elections this week either on the traditional Thursday on an unconventional different day. So here's a suggestion for something useful and quick you can do instead. You'll have probably noticed how heavily I, like many others, rely on the Britain Elects Twitter account and website when covering by-elections. It's a fab service and if you've enjoyed my coverage of by-elections, you too have been indirectly dependent on Britain Elects. So why not give them a little thank you this Christmas with a quick donation to help the service so many of us rely on keep going? And if ...
Yes I'm back and once more flogging something. I remember when I used to write all about my life and views on politics here. That seems like an age ago doesn't it? At some point soon I really should get back to that... So after the relatively successful debut quiz book The All New Pub Quiz Question Book for 2017 (which is still very much live and still for sale) that I put live a couple of months back, I decided that I'd do another. Doing this breaks up some of my other works as writing creatively sometimes you just ...
Residents turned out in force to protest about the development of part of Calderstones Park for housing. They and the local councillors are in the dark as to the Mayor's current proposals To be honest I haven't a clue what ... Continue reading →
In his Christmas message this year, Vince is asking you to support a charity that works with the homeless near to you. Watch the video to find out more.
Guess who wrote the piece below, even better guess what they were trying to say! All that has been changed is that where names of political parties or the names of politicians are mentioned they have been replaced by ***** '***** accept the referendum result and recognise that Britain is leaving the EU. But unlike the *****, we believe that jobs and the economy must come first in the negotiations. That means rejecting 'no deal' as a viable option, negotiating strong transitional arrangements to ensure there is no cliff-edge for the economy and putting much greater emphasis on retaining the ...
We are living in an increasingly automated, digitalised and interconnected world. I recently had the opportunity to tour an exhibit on automation, robotics, and future technology in Belgium. There was a robot for feeding babies: Not sure that I'd want this to be common-place. Bonding between parent/carer and child is ever so important. There is definitely a role for human contact in feeding a child. A robot doll for reminding older people when to take medicines and eat. I can see the practical benefits here, but I would not wish a robot to replace human carers. Robots may have a ...
American Presidents are all commemorated in some way after they leave office. Whether they be great, obscure or disgraced, all modern holders of the office have a Presidential Library, housing their papers and artefacts and dedicated to the preservation of their place in history. Their birth places and homes, from Lincoln's log cabin to Jefferson's [...]
When a wealthy American couple, living the high life in Paris, decide to give a dinner party for some of their grand friends, the hostess realises at the last minute that there will be 13 at table, so needs an extra woman. In desperation, she persuades her reluctant Spanish maid, Maria, to step in as a [...]
I received two Christmas messages from political campaigners yesterday. The first was from a right-wing US website. I have no idea how I ended up on their mailing list. I've tried to unsubscribe many times without success. Their endless stream of nonsense is now fed directly into my junk email folder. The Christmas mailing asked me to thank Donald Trump ... The post Thank Trump or tackle homelessness this Christmas? appeared first on ten pence piece.
Wed, 12:23: RT @davidallengreen: UK sees Brexit as simple and as an exercise in spin. EU27 sees Brexit as complex and as an exercise in process. Almo... Wed, 12:23: RT @KeohaneDan: For some reason UK PM May has turned down invitations to speak at the European Parliament & the Irish Oireachtas (Parliamen... Wed, 12:56: Thread. https://t.co/RqymGFfPBv Wed, 21:48: RT @bbclaurak: Damien Green has resigned Thu, 10:45: Inequality is a threat to our democracies https://t.co/qOtcyQgfhL In the @FT, no less. (Sorry about paywall.)
weekly_food_challenge | Challenge #24: Slow Cooker Fruit Crumble In which I post another slightly vague recipe weekly_food_challenge | Challenge #25: Anything But Turkey This week's challenge is live live live Self-parking cars to be legalised in UK - BBC News This will mean some use of mobile phones will have to be allowed while driving Ubuntu 17.10 Breaks the BIOS on Some Lenovo Laptops Eeek! Shake-up Of Sex Education In Schools Will Teach Children About LGBT Relationships Huzzah! The idea that the royal family had some nazi sympathies is much more mainstream now than it was in 1988, when this ...
As the Tory government continue to push through their disastrous version of Brexit one would be justified in asking: 'where is the opposition?' Well last night, as on other nights, the main opposition came from the only UK-wide anti-Brexit Party, the Liberal Democrats. The Labour Party was in disarray. As the Independent reports, nearly a quarter of Labour MPs defied Jeremy Corbyn's fence-sitting and voted to keep the UK in the customs union after Brexit: The Labour leader had instructed MPs to abstain on the issue, but 63 MPs rebelled and voted for an amendment, tabled by Labour's Chris Leslie, ...
The party has criticised the government after it emerged the Home Office police grant for 2018-19 will remain exactly the same as this year, meaning police forces will see the equivalent of a £125m real-terms cut once inflation is taken into account. The Home Office Police Core Settlement announced today for 2018/19 is £4,054,533,651 (link, p.3), which is exactly the same as in 2017/18 (link, p.6). If funding had kept pace with annual inflation of 3.1%, it would have been increased by £125.7m (Office for National Statistics, link). £270m of the additional funding the government is claiming to be investing ...
It is a basic contention of this blog that Donald J Trump is not fit for office. A crooked real estate developer with a dubious past and highly questionable finances. he has systematically lied his way into financial or other advantage. His personal qualities include vulgarity, sexual assault allegations and fraudulent statements on almost every subject. He lost the popular vote by nearly three million votes. He has, of course, been under criminal investigation practically since before he took the oath of office. The indictment of some of closest advisers is just the beginning. His track record suggests that in ...
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You can find the various council closure dates here: South Glos Council - Contact Centre, One Stop Shop, Libraries, RecyclingYate Town Council - Poole Court, Heritage Centre, Armadillo, Pop InnDodington Parish Council - Parish OfficeSodbury Town Council - no details known - ring 01454 321336, use contact form or email enquiries @sodburytowncouncil.gov.uk
[IMG: This is what pro independence Catalonians are thinking and feeling] People living in the Catalonia region in Spain vote on Thursday 21 December for a new Parliament. This election follows a previous tumultuous two months triggered by the then President of the Catalan Parliament, Carlos... The post This is what pro independence Catalonians are thinking and feeling appeared first on FeministMama @ambitiousmamas.
December 14 marked an important event in Asia: the start of a reconciliation between China and South Korea. Beijing had taken Seoul to task for deploying an American missile defence shield on its territory. The primary target of the High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) is, of course, North Korea's nuclear ballistic programme. But the Chinese [...] The post The pernicious trouble with diplomatic pre-conditions appeared first on Radix.
It used to be customary on my blog for many years to have a Christmas songs countdown ... So for the first time since 2013 - starting with Mariah Carey and 'All I want for Christmas is you' - its back! :
Last night, the House of Commons voted on Amendment 120 of the EU Withdrawal Bill, whether people should be given a vote on the final Brexit deal. It was defeated, with 23 for and 319 against – most of Labour didn't vote! You can watch Wera Hobhouse's passionate speech for giving people a say on the Brexit deal here. And Tom Brake's speech here. Commenting on the vote, LibDem Brexit Spokesperson Tom Brake said: This is a shameful showing from the Labour party. They are meant to be opposing the government, but instead they are clocking off early for Christmas. ...
There's a lot of mud on this lane just after the junction with Eagar Lane going towards Jackson's Bridge. Presently and for the past few days it has been thick and sloppy mud due to rainfall but if it freezes it will become treacherous – brown rather than black ice. Guess it's caused by the movement of large agricultural machinery coupled with heavy rain but watch out as many of our local lanes have mud on them and either rain or freezing conditions can turn them into ice rinks.
